During his tenure with the 7th and 9th Maratha LI and also while on higher command & staff appointments, General Singh has served in Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Joshimath in Uttranchal Pradesh.

Please change Uttaranchal Pradesh to Uttarakhand.

More hyperlinks in the article would help too.Terms like NDA,Maratha Light,PVSM,chief Of Army Staff,First World War,ARTRAC etc. appearing on the page cld lead to corresponding articles on BR.

I think there is a software which makes internal hyper-linking as easy as on wikipedia..[[--link--]].

This page must be "locked" in the sense that it will stay put while the discussion pages carry on.Something like a "sticky" for an individual thread.

On page 0,the person starting the starting the new thread must elaborate the scope of discussion that is unique to it and no other existing thread.

The thread admin/mod could list the best written posts that are most consistent with discussion or the posts that brought light to different aspects of the discussion.Such posts should marked/flagged by the admin/mod asap, so that when thread reaches page 9,the listing is done automatically.

For example's sake,suppose the very first page of the very first thread on the LCA should be made as page 0 for all future discussions.Then, moderator/admin would first outline the scope of LCA thread [what all is allowed to be discussed],and would fill the rest of the page with the posts/newlinks etc he/she considers the most relevant to the current re-booted discussion thread.

I want to know in what ways can one help BR? Should there not be a thread, discussion with suggestions on how one can help make BR even better? I was thinking about writing emails to ISA (Indian students association) heads of all the major universities in the US and ask them to pass on a brief description of this website to all the Indian students. Some universities have as many as 5000 Indian students. Then, there can be postings on the internet forums of some of the big Indian colleges. I see that there is already one BR community on Orkut (with not too many members).

How can the discussion in the porkie thread be made more focussed? Sometimes there are multiple posts telling the same stuff. Should there be teams of people digging-in information at particular places and then presenting their analysis? Another point is that porkie thread gets way too much attention than all others. What can we do to make other parts of website more attractive?

How about running some ads in newspapers in India? I see that the top stories on TOI front page sometimes attract a million views.

Are monetary donations welcome? If yes, how can one do that? Assuming that the answer is yes, how much of donations are needed?

Any other ways in which one can help?

I am sure these topics must have been discussed in the past. Please be gentle . If there is a previous discussion, please point me to it, else, I will appreciate if a senior member can answer my questions.

I do not know if I this has already been discussed or not. If it has been, mod can delete it.

I am new to this site and I am pleasantly surprised to find a lot of information which I hitherto could not find. This site has a lot of Indian armed forrces related info but if someone is interested in a specific topic then it is a daunting task get dig up the relevant info. This is a common problem for many other sites which have forum for its members to discuss the topics. A 'ready-to-find' repository can help. For instance, if someone wants to get a clear picture of how British exploited India, then one should be able to easily get the related articles. This can be done in the same way as Muslim apostates in west are exposing radical and political Islam. They run forums like these but 'critical and well written articles' are lost in old threads. So they created www.wikiislam.com on the model of wikipedia, which is a 'one-click' kind of source. This avoids double search - (1) finding the appropriate thread and (2) finding the relevant article within the appropriate thread.

There can be many sections in the repository [if seniors think, it is worthwhile having it] like Role of Muslim League in Freedom Struggle, Unbiased articles by Pakistanis, DDM's Ignorance etc.

This will create awareness. People will then know what they should know and not what has been fed to them.

I was told that one has to look at the Lord Curzon-Lord Kitchner tiff and the result as a way to understand the JL Nehru and his apathy for the IA officers. Dont know what is the meaning of all that.

The gist of it is that Lord Curzon had a tiff with Kitchner the C-i-C of British Indian army and matter was discussed in British Parliment the net result was that he was recalled. This left a bad taste among the civilians.
Another insight is that JLN was the occupant of the C-i-C 's house aka Teen Murti House after Independence.

Dont know what to make of all this. Why would JLN have panga with IA due to above reason?

was kitchener developing delusions of grandeur based on his command of the sword arm of the raj? the british hierarchy would have been acutely aware that the excesses of the east india company's army a few decades earlier had almost cost them the entire colony - therefore would have been keen to ensure that it was not repeated

was kitchener developing delusions of grandeur based on his command of the sword arm of the raj? the british hierarchy would have been acutely aware that the excesses of the east india company's army a few decades earlier had almost cost them the entire colony - therefore would have been keen to ensure that it was not repeated

ultimately british power rested on control of the british indian army

I have looked up various sources on this Lord C-Lord K tussle and found that Curzon was mirroring/projecting his ideas on Kitchner. He was the one who wanted total control but couldnt. Also the year 1905 was significant for the partition of Bengal happened and most likely the British didnt want to send wrong signal to the locals by censuring the Army chief no matter how high the civil authority was. But these unstated reasons are in background and the lore is that the BIA got Westminister backing and maybe there was a fear in the Indian politicans that IA might get some heldover ideas.

Still we need to understand what was going on both stated and unstated reasons for the downgrading the IA officer cadre for it did have detrimental effects much later.

Earlier afghanis use to simply pay tribute to Maharaja Ranjit singh but after 2-3 years of default., Hari Singh Nalwa was made Governor of Peshawar by the Maharaja.

Hari Singh Nalwa created many small forts all the way from the fort of Rohtas on the banks of Indus to the Khyber Darra or "Khyber Pass" just across the current Durand line (I think over 25 such small forts were constructed). The garrison forces of these forts ranges from 50 soldiers to 500 soldiers(that is a small fort). And a dash by a single cavalry man from khyber's Jamrud fort to Peshawar (or to next fort) to pool up against a tribal attack. Even when Hari Singh nalwa was shot outside the fort of Jamrud he told his people to leave his body in the middle of the fort so that Tribals could see him!! as then they would not dare to attack the fort.

These forts were very effectively used by Ranjit Singh after Hari Singh Nalwa through his Son Prince Sher Singh (who became overall in charge of Khalsa army) and Diwan Mokham Chand, the general.

So! Sikhs have history of facing thousands of tribals in the defending forts in this area, even before Saragarhi.

So! Sikhs have history of facing thousands of tribals in the defending forts in this area, even before Saragarhi.

Sandeep:

Why don't you write about the military aspects of some battles fought by the Sikh armies from the time of Guru Gobind Singhji through Maharaja Ranjit Singh's time, in the 'Battles in Ancient and medieval India Thread'?

To set both history and policy straight, itâ€™s crucial to make public the Brookes-Bhagat Report on that war.

Forty five years ago to the day, the Zhou Enlai government offered the Indian charge dâ€™ affairs in Beijing, P.K. Bannerjee, a humiliating ceasefire to end the month-long 1962 conflict across the 4,000 kilometre-long, mountainous border. Although the war officially ended two days later, the psychological scars it caused still remain rooted in the Indian mindset. Symbolic of this manifestation is the Henderson Brookes-P.S. Bhagat Report on the operational aspects of the 1962 conflagration, which lies buried in the vaults of South Block since it was submitted to the Nehru government in May 1963.

Prepared between December 1962 and May 1963, only one copy of this three-volume report exists today and the authors, as well as all the major players except the then director, Military Operations, D.K. Palit, have passed away. Yet successive governments at the Centre have adopted a â€œlet the past bury its deadâ€

- Hail to the Chiefs! The biographies of all the previous Army Chiefs have been updated, with the help of the Indian Army. Some very rare images have also been added. A must see for Indian Army history buffs!

Just saw the report on NDTV. Contrary to what i thought (maybe BR was mentioned in passing), this was a report exclusively devoted to how the official histories can be accessed on the 'popular defence website bharat-rakshak.com'

the title on the report was sensationalist "ARMY HISTORIES LEAKED" or something similar.

Ajai Shukla ji has just mentioned Bharat-Raksak as an official source of history on 62 and 71 wars on NDTV X-factor.

The discussion on X-Factor was about Govt curtailing official version of 62 on

Yes.. I saw it too last night. I was in bed, nodding off to see that and Shuklaji wrapped up the program saying "Well we will tell you where to find them.. go to bharat-rakshak.com and you will see the official histories".

Gosh..! I literally fell off the bed on hearing that! ..

Actually, I am turning into a fan of the reformed and "cured from hard knocks on T-72 sides" Shuklaji . His writing has actually started making sense and a welcome break away from the Harrumphing and being a drummer boy of "Arjun Dabba onlee.. T-72/90 ..world best " into something a lot more objective and reasonable.

Maybe he needed that time to break away from that regimented army thinking (well. no one ever accused the army of being intelligent and independent thinkers) and start looking at the wider world with open eyes and that the spanking he got at BRF actually did him a world of good.

Time to get him in back from the purgatory /dog house and "rehabilitate" him. After all Allah is most forgiving and merciful onlee.

Welcome back Shuklaji..(come on , everyone knows that you read BRF, though you will be loath to admit it)..

It seems that they just recently (post Dec) took footage of the BR Army's History Page, as I updated the history section (with the Army Chiefs) on 01 Dec 2007. But overall, very happy to see the BR main site on Indian TV. Right on!

For those who do not have easy access to what is being published in Portuguese and in Portugal, here is a reference that could fill in more details about the 1961 military action that led to the end of the Portuguese rule in India. The Vol. VIII (1808-1975) of "Batalhas e Combates da Marinha Portuguesa" by Saturnino Monteiro (Lisboa, Liv. SÃ¡ da Costa Editora, 1997). The author is a retired Naval Officer (CapitÃ£o-de-mar-e-guerra) and former professor of Naval Academy.

Pages 149-182 cover the Goa event (including the naval encounter at Diu). The author presents a very objective picture of the Portuguese political and strategic weaknesses at the time. Refers to the Portuguese complacent attitude vis-a-vis the post-World War II hegemonic tendencies and decolonization process. Quotes on p. 150: "This has nothing to do with us. There is no racism in our colonies. Our blacks (pretos) are happy with us and the idea of becoming independent is nowhere in their heads".

The book describes in quite some detail the military (particularly naval) strength and weaknesses of India at the time. Describes how Salazar relied in vain upon the diplomatic support of USA and UK, and had requested Pakistan and China to create border pressures. The author praises the last Governor General of Goa for ignoring the instructions of Salazar to resist till the last man. According to this account, two batches of artillery men were sent at the very end disguised as football teams. They were to handle the two obsolete anti-air guns the Portuguese had in Goa.

A request from Goa military asking for sausages (meaning ammunition for these artillery pieces) was responded literally by Lisbon authorities with various brands of Portuguese sausages! It became a joke among the Portuguese during a long time to come. Not many in Goa are aware of it as yet.

The book provides a very detailed description of the strategy and action (with maps indicating the battle positions) that ended the last Portuguese naval battles at MormugÃ£o and off Diu. The names of the Portuguese officials who participated in these actions and lost their lives get a due mention.

There is reference to Indian navy having sensed the presence of a submarine. This was later confirmed to have been a British submarine on its way to Far East. The Indian navy was prepared for such an eventuality and several anti-submarine frigates, such as "Trishul", "Kuthar", "Kirpan" and "Khukri" were inducted in the operation. This book should be read alongside the "Operation Vijay" published by the government of India (ed. S.N. Prasad, National Archives of India) with details of Indian military documentation.

For those who do not have easy access to what is being published in Portuguese and in Portugal, here is a reference that could fill in more details about the 1961 military action that led to the end of the Portuguese rule in India. The Vol. VIII (1808-1975) of "Batalhas e Combates da Marinha Portuguesa" by Saturnino Monteiro (Lisboa, Liv. SÃ¡ da Costa

actually most of the Goa Ops Pictures on the Internet are from the Official War History - Op Vijay published by the MoD. Nice book, Nice photos. The list of captured equipment at the end of the book even more interesting for chaps like us.

I refused to shoot him in the back & paid a price for itHarkirat Singh was soon shunted out and never promoted
By Rajesh Ramachandran in New Delhi

Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, ordered the cold blooded murder of V. Pirabhakaran, the Tamil Tiger chief in September 1987. An order was given to this effect to the Indian Army on peace-keeping duty in Sri Lanka at that time.

Pirabhakaran was invited by the chief of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) Major General (retd.) Harkirat Singh, for a meeting on September 16, 1987 to find ways to implement an accord signed between Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayawardene to bring peace to Sri Lanka.

At midnight on September 14, Maj. Gen. Singh received a call on the special army communication network. The call was from Colombo â€” J.N. (â€˜Maniâ€™) Dixit, then Indian high commissioner to Sri Lanka, wanted to speak to the general officer commanding, IPKF.

The general was ordered to kill Pirabhakaran, when he would come over for a meeting on September 16, under the white flag, to discuss the formation of an interim administrative council. This despite the fact that no professional Army would kill an adversary called for a meeting under the white flag.

But Harkirat Singh refused to execute the order, because he says, â€œGood soldiers do not shoot an adversary in the back.â€

One interesting detail from Zalogaâ€™s narrative is Pakistanâ€™s use of the Cobra anti-tank missile. Even though the notorious 9M14 was in the spotlight by 1973, anti tank missiles were apparently used in both the 65 and 71 conflicts. I was interested about the Cobra so I read into it and found out that India also procured the missile at one time. The cobra was designed by Oerlikon in the early 1950s and was gradually improved. I was wondering if anyone knew when it entered service in the IA and when/if it was phased out.